Saturday, December 12, 2009

I have failed lately at blogging about Levi. He is growing and changing so fast that I can't keep up. Below are some pictures taken throughout the last week, capturing some of Levi's recent tricks.

A while ago I bought this rocking chair off craigslist. It was five bucks and I originally intended to paint it to cherish forever. Once I realized it had a crack in the leg (it doesn't jeopardize the structure) I decided to skip painting it and just let Levi enjoy it.

He would rather climb it than use it as a seat.

I can almost hear his laughing squeals when I see this. I believe Tony is getting him with the giraffe. I love how much fun they have together.

Baby Eminem.

The cutest, happiest, sweetest baby boy you will ever meet. (I know I am biased, but seriously. Have you met this kid?)

Levi loves to stand up and look out the window. He will crawl to and climb anything he can. When he sees something specific he wants, his whole face lights up and he crawls quickly to get to it.

Sorta like that face.

Levi has been working on standing up. He can pull himself up to standing and will cruise along objects. Sometimes he will go back and forth between furniture. In these next pictures he lets go while standing and I quickly captured it. He did end up falling down to sitting, but he was able to stand unassisted for a few seconds.

I'm thinking he will have the whole walking thing down much sooner than we'll be ready for.

I love his faces.

Only thing better than standing up to look out the window by yourself? Looking out the window in daddy's arms.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Last Friday Levi and I picked Tony up from work a few hours early and we began our trip back home. The trip was a whirlwind of activity- one week felt like a very long, busy day.

Levi met many new faces and enjoyed seeing familiar ones again. Levi traveled well, staying happy for most of the trip. While in Michigan, Levi went to almost anyone and enjoyed all of the attention.

Tony and I were able to have a few hours to ourselves but there was very little down time. There were so many people that wanted to see Levi, and even more we wanted to spend time with. Each day was packed as full as possible, leaving us more exhausted than relaxed.

The trip offered many firsts for Levi- including first time in Muskegon, first time at Lake Michigan, it was a first time meeting most of the people he met, he crawled an entire flight of stairs for the first time, had his first peas, first Thanksgiving, and many more.

While the trip wasn't a luxurious vacation, we had a good time. Seeing familiar faces and spending time laughing with good friends made the trip quite memorable.

And now, we're home. Levi is thrilled to be in his comfortable surroundings where he can try all of his new tricks he learned while we were away.

I am happy to be home. Excited to shift my focus to Christmas and celebrating the season with my family. To create meaningful traditions with my loved ones and savor the many firsts that Levi will be experiencing.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Levi loves to explore. He is growing so quickly and able to get to where he wants to be. He is pulling himself up to kneeling and can pull himself up to standing as well. He can sit up and does sometimes, but he would much rather be on the move.

He has many new tricks. One game he loves involves taking the books off of the shelf one at a time, looks at each one, then moves on to the next. Usually he ends up trying to climb the shelf and lately he has been somewhat successful in his attempt. We try to actually read a few books while we're at it.

During the day he is normally too busy for cuddling. But, at the end of the day, when he is worn out, I can usually count on a few good cuddles.

Friday, October 23, 2009

I apologize for the lack of posting and pictures. Unfortunately there will be no pictures to go with this post. See, we bought a new digital camera about a month ago and the memory card that we use with it doesn't work with the script that Tony wrote a while ago to upload pictures. So, we haven't been uploading pictures because it takes too long. But he is working on a solution as we speak... errr, as I type.

And there are some good pictures of some fun things.

Since I last posted, Levi has had solid food. We started with sweet potatoes and he has since had avocado, banana, applesauce and pears.

He is also crawling. Yes, crawling. Mostly army crawling, but nonetheless he gets where he wants to be. He is working on the more efficient arm-leg crawl and is able to get up on all fours and then push himself forward, usually doing a face dive that leads to an army crawl.

He rolls around a lot. And spins in circles. Diaper changes are difficult. He does not like to stay still.

He is physically able to sit up alone, but most of the time chooses not to. He isn't very stable and would rather be crawling.

He also laughs a lot. He loves to play peek a boo. When his dad gets home from work he gets really happy.

Levi is now a little more than five months old (I missed his actual five month birthday to post).

We've taken Levi apple picking and out to a pumpkin patch to get his first pumpkin. He is going to be a monkey for Halloween.

We have switched from the infant car seat to the convertible car seat. He was just too big to keep him in the infant one. We need to put it away, along with the bassinet, infant bath tub, and perhaps even his swing. Soon I will be putting away his 6 month clothing.

He is growing up. Quickly. And I am doing everything I can to enjoy every moment.

Levi is quickly developing and growing. At his appointment he weighed 15 pounds 6 ounces and is 16.25 inches long. He is a healthy, happy baby. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful baby.

This month seems to be full of many milestones and "firsts" including:

-first game of "peek a boo" He was laughing out loud and loved it.-first time he rolled from his back to his stomach.-he now inches forward when he is on his stomach by pushing his body off of the ground and forward with his legs.-grabs toys and brings them to his mouth- also passes toys back and forth between hands-recognizes his name-laughs. A. Lot.-he is able to put his pacifier in his mouth (not always the right way), and takes it out (usually not on purpose).-recognizes items- breast/bottle, pacifier, mom/dad

We have been told by his pediatrician we can start giving him solids at any time. We are very excited to start this next phase, but after much discussion think it is best to wait at least a few more weeks. He is definitely interested in food and shows many signs of being ready, but we don't want to rush it. We originally talked about waiting until six months, but now we are not sure how long it will be.

One of my favorite things he does is when he touches my face. When holding him facing me, he will gently use both hands to touch my face. He looks at me and often "talks" to me. Then he will slowly lower his face and turn it to the side so I can give him kisses on his cheeks. He is so sweet and I love cuddling him.

Monday, August 31, 2009

The Rudds arrived on Thursday around 3 in the afternoon. Within minutes, our quiet apartment was full of laughter, screaming and chattering of four excited children. We had a great few days together. I wish it could have lasted longer, but all things must come to an end. Because I was so busy enjoying my time with these wonderful people, I didn't get as many pictures as I would have wanted to fully capture our time together.

Friday morning- can you think of a better way to start the day?

Ginger watching an animal at the zoo.

Katie getting some snuggles with Levi- not sure who enjoyed it more. Levi loved cuddling with Katie.

What great timing on the picture. Nice job, Daniel.

The kids enjoying the polar bear. (from a safe distance)

I love Will's faces.

Enjoying the children's zoo.

Isaac enjoying the carousel.

The train at the end of the day was a big hit.

Really, it was.

Seriously.

First time Daniel's changed a diaper in a long time.

Headed to the falls.

"Where is the trolley stop? Is it here?""I don't know- I think so- that is what the map says?"(notice the sign in the background)

So this *is* where the trolley stops. :)

Thank you for traveling so far with your four children to meet Levi and spend a couple days with us. We enjoyed every moment.